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STAUNTON - The Vandals got three touchdowns and more than 150 yards from Ryan Ambuehl during a 36-21 win at Staunton on Saturday night.

Vandalia's victory comes as a boost after the team was defeated by Carlinville last Friday, as the Vandals (2-1) now have a string of winnable games, with the next big challenge not until week 9 against Greenville, which lost to Carlinville 59-14 on Saturday.

Luke Smith and Tim Ritchey also scored for the Vandals to help drop Staunton to 2-1 on the season.

ALTAMONT – As part of a senior class that features three front-row hitters who are good enough to play at the next level, Vandalia’s Shelby Foster sometimes can get lost in the mix of thunderous kills.

Her contributions aren’t the ones that get the crowd on its feet or create a collective gasp from everyone in a gym.

But they are the ones that help a team like the Lady Vandals start the season 7-0.

ALTAMONT – Seniors Austyn Krueger and RaeChelle Leiken combined for 59 kills in four matches, leading the Lady Vandals to the championship at the Altamont Tournament on Saturday.

Each player more than doubled her season total in kills to lead Vandalia past South Central for the first time in many years in the final game of pool play and then by Cumberland in the title game to give the team a 6-0 start for the first time since coach Allison Smith took over the program in 2004.

Carlinville’s potent running game proved to be too much for the Vandalia defense, as the Cavaliers ran away to a 32-14 win last Friday in a game that was marred by downpouring rain in the second half.

In one of the premier games on the Vandals’ schedule this season, Carlinville showed its offensive might on its second possession, when Brendan Stewart carried the ball 77 yards for a touchdown, breaking several tackles along the way.

A new conference rival will be another big challenge for the Vandalia football team on Friday, when the Vandals travel to Staunton.

The Bulldogs (2-0) have returned to the South Central Conference this season, and have already showed that they came to contend for championships, having held both Pana and Hillsboro to just seven points.

Staunton is led by dual-threat quarterback Jake Bruhn, who has thrown for at least 115 yards and run for at least 59 yards in both games this season.

The Vandalia soccer team scored its first goal of the season on Tuesday, but the Vandals weren’t able to come away with the win as Christ Our Rock Lutheran won, 3-1.

“We did some things right, but we did a lot of things wrong,” said coach Walt Kinney. “Right after they scored that first goal in the first five minutes, we deflated and played that way for the next 15 minutes.”

Senior Sawyer Dickenson connected on the goal, with an assist from Jussi Craycroft.